The widespread use of barcodes has greatly simplified supermarket checkout. However, many problems persist, causing both inconvenience for shoppers and added costs for retailers.
One of the difficulties is finding a barcode on a package. While experienced supermarket clerks eventually learn barcode locations for popular products, even the best clerks sometimes have difficulty with less common products. For shoppers who use self-service checkout stations, any product can be confounding.
Another issue concerns re-orienting a package so that its barcode is in position for reading.
Digital watermarking can be placed on product packaging—preferably over the majority of the package—to improve checkout speed. Methods and systems for improving watermark detection from imagery obtained from retail checkout cameras are described herein.
The foregoing and a great number of other features and advantages of the present technology will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.